Category Archives: Blog

10GHz – Frequency Accuracy and Stability

Posted on May 27, 2019 by

One of the key things that I have learnt from my EME activities is that frequency accuracy and stability is very important. My current 10GHz equipment comprises of a DB6NT G4 Transverter (TVTR) and an ICOM IC-706 transceiver for the … Continue reading →

Posted in 3cms, Blog, GHz_Bands

An Arduino Based Antenna Switch For The IC-7300

Posted on November 20, 2018 by

Since purchasing the IC-7300 I’ve used it mainly on 4m and 6m with the occasional venture down onto the lower bands. With the Sporadic-E season and good conditions on 10m it highlighted one of the shortcomings of the IC-7300… it … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino, Blog, IC-7300

Revisiting the LDF5-50 MagLoop

Posted on July 23, 2018 by

I’ve had a lot of fun using the LDF5-50 based MagLoop. By adding and swapping one or more high-voltage doorknob style capacitors it’s been possible to cover the 80m <> 20m bands. The only two negative things being that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Magnetic Loops, Mobile / portable Operation, QRSS / WSPR / QRP

What’s your handle?

Posted on June 1, 2018 by

For many years I’ve owned a Nissan X-Trail, in fact two, initially a petrol sport and then a diesel. I had an Icom IC-706 with a remote head unit installed. This was used mainly when stationary, with various roof mounted … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Mobile / portable Operation

Revisiting the LDF4-50 MagLoop

Posted on May 7, 2018 by

Today I decided to enjoy the fine weather and do some further outdoor tests with the LDF4-50 MagLoop. I constructed this loop last year. Up until now this loop hasn’t really been used, all my MagLoop experiments have been done … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Magnetic Loops, Mobile / portable Operation, QRSS / WSPR / QRP

A ProgRock and a very old MMT 144/28 Transverter

Posted on May 2, 2018 by

Having got the 10MHz side of the ProgRock project working (see here for details) the next stage was to look at the 116MHz output. If this was also acceptable, I would have an alternative means of generating the two frequencies … Continue reading →

Posted in 23cms, Blog, EME, GHz_Bands | Tagged ,

Building a ProgRock kit for use as a frequency reference for VHF / UHF Transverters – 1

Posted on March 20, 2018 by

The ProgRock is a kit produced by QRP-Labs. It is described as a triple GPS-disciplined programmable crystal, based around a Si5351A Synthesizer. Having read positive reports on the ProgRock I decided to order one, plus the optional GPS kit. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, EME | Tagged , | 1 Comment

LDF5-50 MagLoop on 80m

Posted on February 8, 2018 by

When I first made this MagLoop my goal was to be able to use it on the 40m band, and this was achieved. Recently I began to wonder if it might also work on 80m. So the MagLoop was setup … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Magnetic Loops, QRSS / WSPR / QRP

Homemade Satellite Antenna

Posted on February 5, 2018 by

I was at one time quite active on the early OSCAR satellites. In those days (I’m going back over 35+ years) it was 2m to 10m linear transponder(s). Having not done anything with satellite communications for such a long time … Continue reading →

Posted in 70cms, Blog, Satellites

An SDR based QRSS Grabber

Posted on January 30, 2018 by

About a year ago I purchased the NooElec Ham It Up v1.3 bare bones HF Up-converter (HFU) to use with their NeSDR SMArt dongle. The plan at that time was to get an SDR-based QRSS Grabber running online 24/7. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, QRSS / WSPR / QRP, SDR